Three Missouri Valley Football Conference student-athletes have today been named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS All-America Team.   RB Pat Paschall of North Dakota State, DB Korey Lindsey of Southern Illinois, and OL Austin Howard represent the MVFC on the team.

Paschall became the first Bison player since running back Lamar Gordon and the 12th NDSU player overall to be named to an AFCA Coaches All-America team.  Paschall is currently No. 1 in rushing in the NCAA Division I FCS statistics released Dec. 13, averaging 139.70 yards per game. He finished the season with 1,397 yards and 16 TDs on 207 rushes for an average of 6.75 yards per carry. It was the 10th 100-yard rushing effort for Paschall in 10 games this season and 14 games in his career.

Howard helped guide the Panther offense to a No. 1 ranking in the MVFC in total offense, passing efficiency and sacks allowed. UNI averaged 189.1 yards per game on the ground with 20 rushing TDs. UNI ranked No. 8 in the country in sacks allowed (9).

Lindsey, a 6-0, 190-pound junior from Baton Rouge, La., becomes just the second Saluki defensive back to garner All-America status in back-to-back seasons. He was named a third team All-American by The Sports Network after his sophomore season. Alexis Moreland was the first Saluki voted to back-to-back All-America teams, doing so in 2002 and 2003.  Lindsey intercepted six passes of his own on the year and now has 13 picks in his career, which ranks No. 3 in school history. He needs seven interceptions in his senior season to tie Terry Taylor's school record of 20.

Team Background: The AFCA has selected an All-America team every year since 1945. What makes these teams so special is that they are the only ones chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best - the coaches themselves.
The five teams now chosen for each AFCA division evolved from a single 11-player squad in 1945. From 1945 until 1967, only one team was chosen. From 1967 through 1971, two teams, University Division and College Division, were selected. In 1972, the College Division was split into College I and College II. In 1979, the University Division was split into two teams - FBS and FCS. In 1996, the College I and College II teams were renamed Division II and Division III respectively. In 2006, the AFCA started selecting an NAIA-only team.
From 1965-81, a 22-player (11 offensive, 11 defensive) team was chosen. In 1982, a punter and placekicker were added to the team. In 1997, a return specialist was added, giving us the current 25-player team. The return specialist position was replaced by an all-purpose player in 2006.
 
Top Teams: Eastern Kentucky has been represented a total of 23 times by 21 players on the AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team since 1979. The Colonels are followed by Appalachian State (20/16), Montana (18/18), Massachusetts (18/17), Delaware (18/15), Furman (16/15), Western Illinois (16/15), New Hampshire (16/13), Northern Iowa (16/13) and Georgia Southern (16/12) among current FCS schools.
 
Top Conference: The Colonial Athletic Association (formerly Atlantic 10) (108 appearances/99 players) is tops among all FCS conferences on the AFCA FCS Coaches All-America Team since 1979. Following the CAA is the Southern (98 appearances/86 players), Missouri Valley Football (formerly Gateway) (74/68), Big Sky (64/64), Ohio Valley (61/57), Southland (56/52), Southwestern Athletic (49/47), Patriot (43/42), Mid-Eastern Athletic (29/27), Ivy League (28/28), Northeast (14/12), Pioneer (11/11), Great West (8/7), Big South (6/6) and Metro Atlantic Athletic (5/4). These totals reflect FCS selections only from current conference members. Several schools had additional players chosen when they played in divisions other than FCS.
 
2009 Conference-by-Conference Breakdown: Colonial Athletic - 7; Big Sky - 5; Missouri Valley Football - 3; Southern - 3; SWAC - 3; Ivy - 1; Mid-Eastern Athletic - 1; Northeast - 1; Ohio Valley - 1.
 
Consecutive Years: Eastern Kentucky leads all schools, having had at least one player named to the AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team in each of the first 15 years a FCS team was chosen (1979-93).
 
Double-Double-Double: For the first time since the AFCA has been selecting an FCS All-America team, three schools have two representatives each on this year's squad. Richmond's Matt McCracken (OL) and Justin Rogers (DB), Eastern Washington's Matt Nichols (QB) and J.C. Sherritt (LB) and Appalachian State's Jacque Roman (LB) and Mark LeGree (DB) were all named to the 2009 FCS All-America Team.
 
Repeat After Me: There are not any repeat selections from last year's FCS Coaches' All-America team. Linebackers Gary Reasons of Northwestern State (La.) (1981-83) and Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State (1994-96) are the only three-time AFCA All-Americans in the FCS.
 
Yearly Leaders: Grambling (1979-DL Joe Gordon, LB Aldrich Allen and DB Robert Salters) and Jackson State (1996-QB Grailyn Pratt, LB Otha Evans and DB Sean Woodson) are the only schools to have more than two players named to the AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team in one year.
 
One Player, Two Schools: Punter Mark Bounds is the only player to earn Coaches' All-America honors at two different schools. He was named to the AFCA College Division I team in 1990 while playing for West Texas A&M. He transferred to Texas Tech after West Texas dropped football and earned FBS All-America honors as a Red Raider in 1991.